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Paint it red

Want to buy a bizarre piece of art in the name of common sense? On the 7th of October, a historic French chateau, spraypainted flame red by reclusive graffiti artist Banksy, was unveiled in support of the newly-launched Common Sense Manifesto.

The still embryonic Common Sense Manifesto is the creation of brothers Mark, Guy and Phil Berridge. All are committed to making governments pursue achievable common-sense policies on prison reform, healthcare, education and violence – rather than resorting, yet again, to self-interest.

In pursuit of this noble goal, they are donating their 18th-century French chateau (Chateau Le Val, Chef Du Pont, Normandy). Pretty kind of them, you say?

But there’s a price. Yesterday it was one billion euros. Today, it’s 999,000,000 euros. That’s a whole lot of zeros. Far more than the chateau is worth of course – but don’t forget, it’s a Banksy original. Far more than a Banksy original is worth? Yes, that’s true too – but its sale is by Dutch auction, which means its price drops by 1,000,000 euros daily.

According to Mark Berridge, ‘This work of art is a wake-up call designed to grab everyone’s attention. It will upset a few people – painting an 18th-century chateau might be considered by some to be sacrilege, but we felt it was worthwhile to focus attention on The Common Sense Manifesto. We are long overdue for a more direct and practical approach to solving problems which should not exist in our society.’